Episode 36 - Friends or nothing.

Sam Smith - Not in that way.

Rosanna shut the pedestrian gate behind her, and walked to her apartment at the back of the building. The bungalow behind the duplex housed two mini-flats- one for her, and the other for Femi, one banker guy that had been making moves on her.

The rays of the security lights in front of the building only lighted her path halfway. She didn't bother to turn on her phone's torch. She already knew exactly how many steps it took to get from the window of her landlord's kitchen to her front door. It was something she'd calculated after she'd helped edit an intern's article on the life of the blind.

She already had her keys in her hand. She counted the thirty-two steps and thrust her key into the lock of the steel door.

"Ro." A voice called, and she shouted.

Her heart jumped and she placed her hand on it to calm it.

"Femi, what is wrong with you? Why are you skulking around in the dark?" She shouted.

"Who is Femi?" The voice grunted and she gasped as she recognized it.


"Ose?"

She pulled her handbag off her shoulder and unzipped it. One hand darted in and fished out her phone from the inner purse she'd left open.

She turned on the torch and saw Ose squinting at her.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's in my eye." He hissed and she let her hand drop a bit.

"Sorry," she said, "what are you doing here? When did you get here?"

"I needed to talk to you. And I've been here since five-ish." He said.

She sighed. She didn't have time for this.

"Ose, look, I'm tired and -"

"Ro, I've been here waiting for about three hours." He deadpanned.

She took in a deep breath and turned back to unlock her door. The lock clicked as she turned the key, and the door whined as she pushed it open.

"Come in."

"The door needs oil." He commented as he walked into the apartment.

She walked in after him with her torch illuminatjng the living room and casting shadows over the room. She dropped her handbag on one of the armchairs.

"Excuse me. I'll put on the gen."

"You need help?"

She turned to face him. "I can do it myself. Thank you."

He shrugged as she bent to pick up a rechargeable flashlight plugged to an extension box underneath the plasma hanging from the wall.

She flipped the switch on the flashlight and walked to her kitchen. She opened the back door. She walked to her small generator.

Thank God for her father.

She turned on the tank and choke and turned the ignition key. The engine roared to life and she plugged the gen into the socket by the wall. She entered her kitchen and locked the back door. She changed over, pulling the double knife switch from neutral to generator.

She walked back to the livingroom and turned on the lights and fan.

Ose squinted and she picked up her phone. She turned the torch and her flashlight and plugged them to charge.

She took the farthest seat from Ose, watching him look around the livingroom decor.

"Nice place." He said as he moved his eyes back to her.

Somehow, she preferred his eyes flitting around the room than on her.

"Thanks." She said, clipped.

No need to encourage him. She could bet her soul and spirit what he wanted to talk about. She wasn't to go there, to have that kind of relationship again. And not with Ose. He deserved someone better. Someone who could love him and risk trusting again. She couldn't. She couldn't trust a man again. She couldn't have one not trust her again. It was just too painful.

Dare had not trusted her. Not once. Not twice. She could still remember the pain in her soul anytime he doubted her fidelity. It hurt like hell.

"Ro, it's been close to two weeks and you've not even bothered to check up on me. Ro, you moved out. Just like that?" He started.

"Ose, we both know what you want. And I can't give it. I'm sorry. I can't." She said, looking down at her coffee table.

"Why? I'm not handsome enough? I'm not tall enough? Not rich enough?" He cried with a frown.

She looked up at him.

"Ose, I'm not that superficial. Those things mean nothing to me."

"Then what is it, Ro?" He shouted. "I've tried to wrap my mind around it, but I can't. Why can't you reciprocate my feelings? And don't tell me you feel nothing for me, because we both know that's bullshit."

"Ose, I just can't. Really. Not all amorous feelings are meant to be explored."

Why couldn't he just let things be? Why couldn't they just go back to the way things were? Why did he want to be more than friends?

"Ro, I love you," Ose sighed. His pain etched onto his face, accenting his voice and revealing his sincerity. "I don't think I've loved any woman the way I love you. Not Bibiana. Not Roselle. Ro, please."

His words tugged at her heart and drew tears to heart. She loved him too. She didn't know when it happened, but she knew it. She loved him.

But love wasn't just enough.

"Ose, I wish I could be with you the way you want. I really do. But I can't. Ose, it's not you. You're an amazing guy. You've done so much for me, and you deserve to be loved. And you will. You'll find that someone. Believe me. You're too good. I can only be friends with you. Friends and nothing else." She said.

"Ro-"

"Ose, if you really love me like you claim, you'll accept this compromise." She said.

He squeezed his eyes shut for two seconds and opened them.

"Ro, I should have had you first." He muttered.


******
Jason Oduah shifted in his seat as he waited for her to come out. He hated the company. Junkies. Everywhere.

He had have never set foot im such an establishment if not for the dire situation. Chlorine wafted into his nose and he wondered if the visiting room was mopped with just plain bleach. H's eyes flitted to the table beside him. The young man kept on itchinghis nose and sniffling.

Bile rose to his throat.

Disgusting.

The two male nurses he had met at the reception led in a thinner version of the woman he was waiting for. She was beyond model thin. Her collarbone stuck out like an awkward accessory and neck long. Her eyes were distant as the men half-pushed, half-led her to the table he was sitted at.

Her eyes widened as she recognized him.

"Chief Oduah?" She asked as the men deposited her into her seat.

"I didn't know you did drugs."

She stiffened and looked at the table.

"What do you want?"

"How would like to own a brand new house, a range rover and fifty million naira?" The man said.

Her eyes flitted up at him.

He smirked. Money was the most effective bait. At least, for a rehabilitating junkie who had gone bankrupt.

"What's in it for you?" She asked, after schooling her greedy expression.

The man shifted closer to her and leaned in.

"You get clean. Get rehabilitated. No more drugs. Not even weed. Squeaky clean. I'll get your records clean. No one will ever know you were here," he started.

Her eyes widened in glee and a small smile formed on her face.

"And in return, Katryna, you file for sole custody of your son, Chris. My grandson."

"But I thought that b*itch got sole custody."

He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. Not with my connections. I just need you to file for custody and Chris is as good as yours." Jason told her.

She smiled.

"Are you in?"

She nodded.

Ann2012:


Tinú washed off her love for Délé as she bathed and came out a new woman healed from all her heartbreaks.

If Délé felt free, it's time to be free too.

She put on a black bodycon dress and wore a blue blazer over it. She took out her highest black heels and put them on. It was time to be on top of the world. She took off her wedding ring and placed another ring in its stead. She wore a different perfume and styled her hair differently. She had burned the old Tinú and like a Phoenix, she rose out of the ashes. She lined her eyes and used red lipstick. It was time to get over Délé and she'd get over him in style.


I so much love this part, The new Tinu

Also, my favourite. To the point where she entered chris's office, and he was kind of busy on his p.c. Then he finally lifted up his eyes, *slow motion activated* man was dumbfounded.

i'm using opera mini, can't quote it. 1009 letters max. But, i knw it's chapter 7 of book 1.

This chief is just plain wicked. What is his problem with Tinu Na? Thanks Millie.

I just wish the next update will have something like “and Chief Oduah was involved in a ghastly car accident that claimed his life” that’s all!!!!!

Thanks for the update ma’am

Ann2012:
I just wish the next update will have something like “and Chief Oduah was involved in a ghastly car accident that claimed his life” that’s all!!!!!

Thanks for the update ma’am

You're too nice sef.
You want to dash him a cheap Death, Haba.
Tinu sef won't agree with you.

Let him go broke first, since wealth is what he worship most and using to oppress.
And before that I hope the "new Chris" will bite off one of his ears .

Well-done Millie

Josipov:

You're too nice sef.
You want to dash him a cheap Death, Haba.
Tinu sef won't agree with you.

Let him go broke first, since wealth is what he worship most and using to oppress.
And before that I hope the "new Chris" will bite off one of his ears .

Well-done Millie

Episode 37 - Please, don't leave me.

Elsa woke with a start. Her pants permeated the room to where her husband sat. He looked up from the book he was reading on the sofa. She shook her head and snapped her fingers around her head, rejecting and nullifying the dream.

"Elsa, what happened?" He asked as he dropped the book and walked to the bed.

"I had a bad dream. A terrible dream." She gasped softly.

He sat beside her and rubbed her back as she narrated the dream.

"I went to visit Dele in his office. His office was so untidy, and I decided to help him tidy it up. There were so many papers on his desk. I went through them and saw that they were just old photo copies of newspapers. I packed them to throw them in the dust bin.

"Unknowingly, I had packed a gold inkpot together with the papers. When Dele got back, he started looking for the inkpot. There was a multi-million dollar contract he needed to sign, and he could only sign it with ink from that inkpot.

"By the time we got downstairs to the dumpster, LAWMA had already come, and the dumpster was empty. Dele lost that contract."

Elsa sighed as her husband paled.

"Should we pray?" Donald suggested.

She nodded and they descended to their knees together.

********

P!nk- Please, don't leave me. (Millieademi strongly recommends listening to this song as you read. You can thank her later.)


Seyifunmi?

Could she really?

Anger and doubt fought in his head. He really wanted to trust his fiancee. Seyifunmi couldn't have done something so grave and kept it hidden all this while.

Seyifunmi?

No. It couldn't be.

He pounded the pedal as the need to know ravaged him. His eyes squinted in confusion as he tried to come to terms with Tinu's allegation.

Seyifunmi?

Seyifunmi had been the one to suggest tracking the international number Tinu had called him with. She'd hounded one of her PI friends in the US to track the number. The man had traced the number to some suburb in Atlanta. She'd offered to take the week off to go and find Tinu with him.

Seyifunmi had been the one to allay his fears and reassure him that he'd get his children back. She'd held him when he felt dejected, when he felt like he'd lost his children forever.

But Tinu had no reason to lie. Till date, Tinu had never lied to him.

What if she wasn't just trying to spite him?

What if Seyifunmi really did call her a slut in front of Temi?

His heart broke and anger erupted from the pieces. He knew just how hurtful it was to hear your mother being insulted and called loose. And he never wanted that for his children. He never wanted them to ever doubt their mother's integrity.

He had. Once. Everyone had branded his mother the prostitute of the century and he began to believe that they were right. He had confronted his mother as a six year old boy and demanded to know the truth.

He'd never forget the pain he brought to his mother that today. In tears, she had brought out her Bible, and swore that if indeed she did all the horrible things she had been accused of, that she'd die from the worst death recorded in the Bible.

His mother had borne the pain of his distrust for a while, and everything he ever achieved,every exam he ever aced, every scholarship he ever won was to make up for the pain he had brought to her that day.

If Seyifunmi really called Tinu a slut in front of his son, he'd never forgive her.

In fact, if she called her a slut, and kept their confrontation hidden after all this while, he could never bring himself to forgive her.

He swerved the car sharply to the right and sped down the street to his new house. The automated gate opened as it sensed his car. He zoomed in and parked the car haphazardly. He killed the engine and got out of the car. He slammed the door shut and stomped towards the front door, ignoring his driver's offer to repark the car and his gardeners' hollered greetings over the roar of the string trimmer and leaf blowers.

He pressed the door bell, and he waited a few seconds before a maid came to answer it.

"Good afternoon sir, " one of the maids greeted.

Her name was Mary or Mercy. He wasn't sure. They had four maids, and he was yet to commit any of their names to memory.

He just grunted and stormed into the house. He walked past her, through the grand vestibule to the living room. He met Seyifunmi, Rosanna and Fariha bent over a blue binder with several catalogues sprawled over the couch they sat on.

A side table in front of them had three, tall glasses resting on coasters sitting on it.

"Seyifunmi," he called, and the three women looked up.

Their faces split into smile. Each one a different smile with a different smile.

Fariha's was the courteous, unctuous smile symptomatic of shrewd business people.

Rosanna's was the sincere, glad smile of someone who hadn't seen you in a while.

Seyifunmi's smile held a blend of love and adoration so profound that he doubted Tinu's words.

Seyifunmi would never do something like that and keep it a secret. She just wouldn't.

"Babe."

"Hi, Daleware."

"Good afternoon Sir."

They called at the same time.

He gave them a weak smile as Seyifunmi rose and crossed the room to meet him.

She placed a kiss on his lips.

"How was your trip?" She asked grinning.

He couldn't bring himself to smile back.

Her smile waned and she asked, "What's up?"

"Please, can I have a word with you?" He whispered.

"Are you okay?" She asked frowning in concern.

He gave her a weak smile and nodded.

"I will be once I clear up some things with you."

She sighed and nodded.

"Sorry, please excuse us." She turned and said to Fariha and Rosanna.

"Ahem," Rosanna cleared her throat and smiled, "five minutes only."

Seyifunmi hissed. "When will you have sense?"

"When I become a godmother." Rosanna jived.

Seyifunmi giggled and led him to the dining room.

Her face wore a frown of concern as she stared back at him, and for the thousandth time he doubted Tinu.

Seyifunmi just couldn't betray him like that.

"What happened?" She cooed holding his arm.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

Please, just say it's all a lie.

"Seyifunmi, please, I beg you, do not lie to me," he said.

"I never have, Dele." She said.

It was true. She'd never lied to him. Was he really going to doubt his fiancee? What if Tinu was wrong? He'd hurt her feelings by asking.

But he had to know.

"Seyifunmi, please, I want you to answer yes or no." He said and she straightened her spine in confidence.

She nodded.

"Seyifunmi, did you really call Tinu a slut?"

The words floated in the air and her face went from concern, and not to the look of confusion and outrage he wanted so desperately to see.

Guilt darkened her fair face, and her hand on his arm dropped.

"Dele, I-"

No. God, no.

"Seyifunmi, please, yes or no." He groaned as the anger he'd suppressed and locked up pushed past the barriers.

"Dele, let me explain." She whispered.

"If you can't answer that, then answer this- did you tell her to stay away from me and stop using our kids as a ladder into my life?" He groaned loudly.

Her guilt was so evident, so thick, he could pull it off her face like a mask.

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

"So you actually threatened to tell my children their mother is a slut?" He shouted.

"I…. Dele, I'm sorry." She whispered with tears shimmering in her eyes.

He shook his head. The disappointment he felt, the hurt and the betrayal hurt him ran more deeply, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He clutched his keys in his hands.

"You…"

Words couldn't begin to articulate how betrayed he felt. His heart was rent and hurt slashed at his throat.

He raised his key and pointed it at her, trying to find the right words.

"Dele, I'm sorry."

He stabbed the air with his key and shook his head.

It shouldn't have been her.

He spun on his heels and turned to leave.

"Dele, wait," she cried after him.

He made it back to the living room and she caught onto his shirt and pulled.

"Get your hands off me," he roared and pushed her hand off him.

The anger he'd pushed back broke the last of the barriers in place, and he was going to let her have every last drop of his fury.

She shrunk at the force of his voice.

"Don't touch me, you traitor." He shouted.

Her tears fell fast, but they weren't going to fool him.

She was a hypocrite, a liar, a pretender. All her acts of concern were just pretence or fig leaves for her guilt.

"Dele, please," she begged.

He saw Rosanna and Fariha stand from the corner of his eye.

"You did all that, yet you said nothing. You pretended to have my back, to be concerned, when you were the one who ruined my life." He barked at her, and she flinched and sobbed.

"My mother was right about you," he said and rubbed his face.

"Seyifunmi, you ruined the relationship I spent six years building. I may never see my children again. All because of you."

"Dele, I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I ever met you. I'm sorry I asked you out. I'm sorry I proposed to you." He shouted.

Her eyes widened and she stared at him.

"Dele, I love you." She wheezed.

He scoffed and shook his head.

"I want nothing of your stupid love," he barked at her and turned to Fariha, "Fariha, we won't be needing your services anymore."

Rosanna and Seyifunmi's let out gasps.

"Dele, please calm down. Let's try to talk about this." Rosanna begged.

"Stay out of this, Rosanna." He groaned. "This is between your cousin and me."

Seyifunmi sobbed, "Dele, please, forgive me."

"I give you one week to get your things out of my house and drop my engagement ring. I want you out of my life." He said and she sobbed harder.

"Dele, please." She cried with the veins in her forehead turgid.

"It's too late for that."

"Dele, I swear I regretted it. I tried apologising to Tinu. I did. I really did."

"You didn't try hard enough." He said and walked out of the living room.

She hollered his name, but he didn't turn or stop.

"Dele, please, don't leave me." She shouted.

He strode to his car, pretending no one was shouting his name with enough decibels to rival a loudspeaker.

The gardeners paused and turned to watch, but he didn't care. He heard her slippers slapping the stamped concrete driveway, and she appeared in front of the driver's door of his car.

"Dele, please, I'm sorry. Please." She sobbed. Her make-up was streaming down and staining her white, maxi sundress. Her mascara stained her cheeks and she whispered, "Please."

"Get out of my way," he gritted, resisting the urge to push her out of his way.

"Dele-"

"I'll count to three."

She wailed her plea, but he wouldn't be pacified. She broken his trust, stabbed him in the back, and she was now pleading?

There would be no absolution or forgiveness.

"One."

"Dele, please."

"Two."

"Dele, please. I'm sorry."

"Three."

He glared at her and took a step towards her. She scampered out of his way in fear.

He opened the door and got in.

"Dele, I'm sorry." She shouted.

He hissed and started his car. He saw her run somewhere. He put the gear in reverse. He reversed the car enough to give him room to turn the car around. He shifted the gear to drive and turned the car around towards the gate.

He met her standing in the middle of the gateway with her arms stretched wide open.

What was this drama?

He wound down the window by his side and shouted, "Get out of the way, Seyifunmi."

"No. Not until you forgive me. Dele, I'm sorry. Please."

He hissed and reversed the car. He drove forward, thankful he was driving his small Camry and the gate was wide enough. He sped past her and drove out of the compound.

He saw her run after his car from his side mirror until she tripped on her dress and fell to the ground.

He heard her piercing scream.

Dele.

He hissed and raised his eyes to the road.

woww....can't believe the heartbreak would be this painful eiyaa Seyi sorry about the breakup ni If only you had opened up...

oh my God � the dream is coming to reality. Dele is about to loose his fortune which is Seyifunmi. This Seyifunmi matter is really making me to vex

Excel1405:
oh my God � the dream is coming to reality.
Dele is about to loose his fortune which is Seyifunmi.
This Seyifunmi matter is really making me to vex

fortune kwa? i won't deny the fact that Seyifunmi has been really helpful to Dele but then she has equally been a pain in the ass to others. It will take grace for Dele to forgive her knowing he doesn't easily forgive. I hope she finds good reason to hate Tinu now, afterall she had been searching for a reason.

Excel1405:
oh my God � the dream is coming to reality.
Dele is about to loose his fortune which is Seyifunmi.
This Seyifunmi matter is really making me to vex

Fortune Ko fortune ni
:

wao, this is stunning....more inspiration to u blvd. to err is human...if there is no sin,there ll b no forgiveness...Dele shld forgive seyi

I hope she's not pregnant!!! She deserves it.

LOLATY:
I hope she's not pregnant!!! She deserves it.

azin ehh, if she becomes pregnant she will be the one using her unborn child as a ladder into Dele's life( reverse being the case now). I pray she's not o

Thanks for the update, I don't pity herr, she deserves it, see what she have caused Tinu.

Hahahha, I have been waiting for this particular update for a very long time now, finally its here, Aunty Seyifunmi the tongue waggler has face the beat that she inspired, I have never routed for her right from the start because I have come across many people like her, no matter there pretentious nature they can destroy relationship, imagine how she gets annoyed when her fiance's mum calls, she is more than capable of making Dele to hate his children, his mother, even tinu, hen turn his face to her own family and children.

Millie ese for the update, don't forget this ship should not sail

Thanks for the update. Seyinfunmi is already pregnant and that's why Millie gave us that part were she talked about her not be on her safe pregnancy preventive measures.

Abosede512:
Thanks for the update, I don't pity herr, she deserves it, see what she have caused Tinu.

I will like her to be pregnant too, let me see how she will eat her words, if she won't use the child to pester Dele as she said also.

Pregnant ke?
Lai Lai
Millie please don't dash her any pregnancy kankan

One thing with the likes of Seyifunmi is that once the wedding knot have been tied, they'll see no need to apologize to "Tinu" again, since they'll have already achieved the goal of marriage.
But the likes of Dele will still scatter the marriage, even if it's Super glue that is joining them together

divinelypruned:

I will like her to be pregnant too, let me see how she will eat her words, if she won't use the child to pester Dele as she said also.

She can't be pregnant. she told Dele no sex till the wedding night. Since she has stopped the contraceptive because she didn't want to be pregnant before the wedding.

I'm telling u that if Elsa knew she was probably praying for Seyifunmi she would have been less serious
She hadn't liked Seyi from the start and this would even garnish her contempt for Seyi. Can't wait for Elsa to realize she had been the cause for Tinu's disappearance.

peaonyx05:
I'm telling u that if Elsa knew she was probably praying for Seyifunmi she would have been less serious
She hadn't liked Seyi from the start and this would even garnish her contempt for Seyi. Can't wait for Elsa to realize she had been the cause for Tinu's disappearance.

How do you mean??
Please elaborate :
1. How and when is Elsa praying for seyifunmi?
2. How is Elsa the cause of Tinu's disappearance??

Don't tell me you think Seyifunmi is the gold inkpot in Elsa's dream.

[i][/i]Episode 38 - It's Sijuola

"Dele," she screamed with every fibre of her being.

Sobs racked her body as she sat on the asphalt. The pain in her knee and shin were nothing compared to the piercing throes in her heart. Her heart and her visceral organs had been baptized with some form of acid.

They were melting within her. She closed her eyes, hoping she'd melt away with them.

She didn't.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Well, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I ever met you. I'm sorry I asked you out. I'm sorry I proposed to you.

His words rang in her head, pounded like a nasty headache.

I want nothing of your stupid love.

Her heart clenched and she felt what had to be her death. A cold sting tearing the chambers of her heart assunder.

"Seyifunmi, sorry. Please get up." Rosanna's voice called.

She stared at the trail his car had taken.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again.

"Dele, come back,"she shouted.

She wiped the snot on her philtrum as fresh sobs shook her.

Hands pulled her up and her feet wobbled underneath her.

"Will you f*ucking get that phone away?" Rosanna snarled at someone.

She turned and saw a teenaged girl recording her. She sobbed again and turned to Rosanna.

"Ro, please help me beg him. I can't leave with him. Please." She begged clutching her cousin's arms.

"Shay, calm down. I know you're hurting, but let's get inside." Rosanna said.

"Ro, if Dele leaves me, I will die." She wailed and hugged her cousin. Tears fell like June rain, and their reservoir seemed to be infinite.

Seyifunmi shook with tears as her arms wound themselves around Rosanna's neck.


"You'll be okay." Rosanna cooed.

"No, I won't." She countered shaking her head.

I give you one week to get your things out of my house and drop my engagement ring. I want you out of my life.

His words resounded in her head, and she wailed.

"Ro, he wants me out of his life. How am I to survive?"

Seyifunmi, unless I have ever done anything bad to you, you will know the unimaginable pain of losing the man you love. Seyifunmi, you'll be so much in pain that you'll wish for death, but never find it. Unless, I ever did anything bad to you. Unless, I ever hurt you or gave you a reason to do this to me.

"Oh my God." She gasps and pulled away from Ro.

"It's Sijuola. Sijuola. Sijuola's curse caused this." She bawled.

"I have to beg her. Maybe when she does," she shouted choking on her sobs.

"Seyifunmi, calm down." Rosanna begged.

She shook her head and began to jog back to the compound.

"I'll call Sister Simi. Maybe she has her number and I'll beg her. I'll-"

"Seyifunmi, what are you talking about?" Rosanna shouted and ran after her.


Not too many people knew what had gone down between her and Siju. What she did to her wasn't intentional. She never intended to hurt Siju. She didn't even know Gbade was her fiance. She never knew him as Gbade.

He was Ari to her. To her and her friend, Adanna. He'd told them his name was Ari, short for his last name Aribisala. She never bothered to ask for his first name. It wasn't her business.

How was she supposed to know that the guy who claimed to be single while running his master's degree at University of Ibadan was already engaged to be married. And to no one else but her own cousin.

Eight years ago, she'd gone to the post graduate library to get some books for her lecturer. She had been in her third year then, running her second first degree in computer engineering. She'd bumped into Ari, or Gbade, and his friend, Kola.

Kola, her first boyfriend, had asked her out, and after his persistent asking and begging, she finally went out with him. Ari met Adanna one night he and Kola had driven her home to the apartment she shared with Amaka off-campus.

Ari had taken a liking to her, and had begged her to be his wingwoman to win Adanna's heart. She had agreed, because just like her Adanna was an NBSB L, and she wanted her friend to love. Ari, then seemed sincere, and she'd vouched for him.

They dated for about six months, before the calamity happened. She'd just returned from an overnight tutorial. She met Adanna crying that day in the house. And after begging, and shouting at her, Adanna finally opened up, and told her she'd found out Ari was engaged. If it wasn't bad enough, she was pregnant and her parents knew.

Her parents were outraged that their Ada had gotten pregnant outside wedlock, and for an Yoruba Yoruba boy. They threatened to disown her, unless he came to ask for her hand with his family.

She had been beyond acrimonious. Why did he deceive them? If he was engaged, why did he try to take advantage of her friend? She'd pulled her friend out of the house, they'd jumped on the first bus to Lagos, where Ari was based.

They got to his house that Saturday morning, and she'd banged on his front door. His butler had opened the door, and they'd stormed in without introducing themselves.

She'd met him having breakfast with his parents. And she revealed his dirty secret, and demanded he own up to his responsibility.

She didn't listen to any of Adanna's pleas that they leave. His parents had been disheartened that their son was a two-timer. She'd been satisfied when his father insisted that he'd have to marry the woman who was carrying his first born.

Apparently, Siju was not really favoured by Ari's Ibo mum. She didn't even realize that his fiancee was around till she heard someone call her name. Siju had gone to the restroom, and was too devastated to come out of the shadows when heard her shouts. Hearing Ari's mother hug and accept Adanna had propelled Siju to want to leave the house.

She'd been shell-shocked when she found out Ari's fiancee was Siju. And Siju was livid when she realized the person who'd hooked up her fiance with another woman was her cousin.

She'd followed Siju out of the house trying to beg her. Siju had accused her of doing everything to spite her. Siju didn't believe she didn't know Ari was her fiance. She'd insisted she knew, claiming Ari, or Gbade was all over her Facebook wall. Seyifunmi insisted that she didn't. She didn't even care enough about Siju to want to be friends with her on Facebook.

Siju had sobbed her curse that day with the same anguish she was feeling now.

Why didn't the curse get fulfilled when she was with Kola, or Niyi, or Solomon, or Ty, or any of the other men she'd dated before Dele? Why did it have to be the she loved like her next breath? Why did it have to be the man who owned her heart and her soul? Why did it have to be the man she couldn't live without?


*******
Elsa walked slowly to the elevator as she turned her head left and right, trying to figure out why people were crying. Incoherent murmurs filled the reception. What was going on? She tapped the wall three times thinking it was the button as she eavesdropped on the conversation of two women carrying boxes.

"My husband just lost his job. What are we going to do? My younger brother just got admission into university. It's only me and him. How am I supposed to support him now?" One of the women sobbed.

"It will be well. At least, with the severance pay, we can make do till we find new jobs." The other said.

"My brother's acceptance fee takes up half of the money. Our rent will be due soon. Why did this have to happen now?" The first woman lamented.

"I swear I've never seen Oga this angry before. Fired a whole department?" The other woman said.

"I don't even understand how we lost the contract."

Elsa's heart pounded as she heard the word contract. Her dream was already coming to pass.

She turned her attention to the elevator and tapped the button. She got in and tapped the button for the fourth floor.

The brief ride ended as the lift got to the fourth floor. The usually quiet executive floor had people running left right, carrying folders and papers. One lady even tripped and her file went flying across the room. No one stopped to help her, and she didn't wait for anyone's help. She picked herself up, and walked to pick up her file.

She dragged her feet to Délé's secretary's desk. She met Teni on a call, talking with enough speed to be rapping.

"Look, we need twenty-five to thirty replacements on or before next Monday. I don't know how you want to do it, Ophelia. You owe me. Send out the ads now or something. I don't know. I can't teach you your job." Teni barked into the mouthpiece of her headset.

She ducked her head in greeting as she saw her. Elsa waved her greeting and mouthed to her.

"Can I see him?"

Teni raised a finger and tapped a button on the other telephone on her desk.

"Ophelia, please hold for two seconds. Don't you dare cut the call."

Teni held the mouthpiece with her hand and spoke to the intercom.

"Sir?"

"What?!" Dele shouted.

Elsa flinched and was surprised Teni remained unfazed.

"Your mother is here. Should I let her in?"

"Of course. What kind of stupid question is that?"

"You were having a meeting with HR, and-"

"Just let her in. All of you are just useless."

"Okay sir."

Teni ended the call just as Délé's door opened, and people scrambled out. A few of them mumbling and hissing as they walked past her. Two ladies mumbled greetings to her and she could only nod.

"Mummy, you can see him." Teni said with a smile on her clenched jaws.

She was about to ask what happened when Teni resumed her call.

"Ophelia, we need back just in case our HR f*uck up. Would you rather I contact great jobs dot n g instead?"

Elsa pulled away and sighed as she walked to her son's office. She knocked twice and entered.

"Dele," she called as he squeezed a file into a ball and threw it in a growing heap by the door.

His hard look softened an inch as he looked up at her.

"Mummy," he called and stood.

"Kilo n sele?" She asked as she walked to him. (What's going on?)

He rubbed his face and sat after she did.

"My life is turning upside down. Mummy, this is the fourth contract we've lost since Tinu took the children away. Mummy, I don't know what to do. I haven't spoken to my children in a week. Tinu doesn't pick my calls anymore. Even more disheartening, the number she called me with wasn't hers. And the lady denies knowing any Tinu." Dele rambled.

Did the inkpot mean her grandchildren? Was she the cause for their move? Did she offend Tinu, and Tinu decided to retaliate by leaving with the children? What did she do wrong?

She scanned through her memory of the weeks leading up to the day she left on the cruise with Donald. She didn't have any altercation with Tinu.

How then did she push her son's blessings away?

"Mummy, you were right." Dele whispered.

"About what?"

"Seyifunmi." He said. "She's the reason Tinu left with the children. Mummy, I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you. I'm so sorry. I should have known better. I should have known you'd be right. I should have-"

Délé's words were lost on her. The only thing she heard was 'she's the reason Tinu left with the children.'

"Bamidele, jo, laa ye mi. Seyifunmi did what?" (Bamidele, please, explain it to me.)

He sighed and said, "Seyifunmi accosted Tinu. She called her a slut, accused of using the children to win me back, told her to stay away from me, and threatened to tell the children their mother is a slut."

"Ahh!" Elsa shouted.

That skinny, good for nothing, swearing harlot did all that? And she pretended to be innocent the other day she came to her house? She'd rightly accused her. Her spirit was never wrong.

"I knew it. Donald ti pa mi," she shouted and jumped out of her seat, "I told him that girl wasn't good enough for you. No, Elsa is judgemental. She is just like Jola."

She paced the room as she continued ranting.

"Elsa, you haven't spent five minutes with the girl to get to know her. My spirit doesn't lie. From the first day I saw that girl at the hospital, I knew she'd be trouble. But he said I shouldn't come between you. I should let things play out.

"Se ko ti play out ni sin? Everything ti wa di isu at yiyan!" (Hasn't it played out now. Everything has gone awry.)

"Ti n ba f'oju kan omo yen, ma a bu je." (If I see that girl, I will bite her.)

God.

"Bamidele, ki la ma se?" (Bamidele, what do we do?)


"Mummy, I don't know. Everything's topsy-turvy. O don't know. I just want my children back." Dele sighed and her heart melted.

The paternal pain in his voice lingered in the air and stung her heart. Whatever pain she was feeling, he felt it more.

She'd never forget the day he called her just to tell her Temi and Tomini called him Daddy and they told him they loved him. She'd never heard his voice so happy. Tears stung her eyes as she turned to see their picture on the double, book like frame on his desk. The recto had a picture of her and the verso, a picture of Temi and Tomini smiling with their incisors gone.

She should have trusted her instincts and insisted Dele dump that girl. Maybe if she had acted promptly and ignored Donald, her grandchildren would still be here.

Dele was her son, and whether he was fourteen or forty, he needed her guidance.

She shouldn't have kept quiet.

She should have told him.

This was her fault

With all this recent happenings, I’m just sober that Dele is going through a rough patch. Let all be well with him, Tinu should pls consider the love Dele has for his children and let them reunite with their father. Though Seyi is to be blamed but ..... I still pity her

Thanks for the update ma’am

Josipov:

How do you mean??
Please elaborate :
1. How and when is Elsa praying for seyifunmi?
2. How is Elsa the cause of Tinu's disappearance??

Don't tell me you think Seyifunmi is the gold inkpot in Elsa's dream.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.
1. I should have said that 'Elsa would have been much more serious if she had known that the gold inkpot was her grandchildren and not the other way round.
2. I was trying to say that I can't wait for Elsa to realize that Seyi had been the reason for all the recent happenings.

Actually the gold inkpot is Dele's children

I feel Seyi's pain cause I know she's hurting badly. Dele please try as much as you can to forgive her but don't marry her oo because she no go change ni. Thanks Millie

Episode 39 - I'm sorry.

Mariah Carey - We belong together.

Seyifunmi picked up her phone. It had been a week now. He ought to have cooled down now. She tapped her call log.

No missed calls.

Tears hit her throat. She swallowed and gasped for air. She tapped the square with Dele smirking and the dialling tone filled her room.

It rang a about two minutes, but he didn't answer. Just like he hadn't answered the other two hundred and fifty two calls she'd made. A tear slid out of her eye and she tapped the recent apps icon. She tapped on WhatsApp.

She clicked on her chat with Dele. The background picture was a picture of the two of them. Her heart crashed to her stomach, and she winced as pain was over her. The screen was filled with green lines of the messages she had sent to him. All the messages he'd left unread.

Her eyes darted up and she saw he was online. She took a leap of faith, and typed another message.

Dele, please, I'm sorry. Please, I'll do anything for you to forgive me. Please, I love you so much and I'm dying without you. Please. I'll do whatever it takes to find Tinu and the children. I'm sorry. I love you, and any moment without you is like I'm losing my life. Please. I get you're angry. I know I deserve this. I was a total bitch and undeserving of your forgiveness. Please, just forgive me.

She tapped the send button. The two get ticks appeared instantly. She crossed her fingers hoping it would turn blue.

Her message sat there waiting for him to read it and see just how sorry she was. She looked up and saw he was still online.

Dele, please.

She looked down.

Still grey.

The word online morphed into typing, and a smile crossed her face as her heart began to sing Hallelujah.

The white box with his message came in , and her smile and heart's song died.

Stop spamming me and leave me alone.

He went offline and tears rolled down her cheeks. She turned on her side on the hard mattress. She remembered the goose feather bed that was in the bedroom Dele had built for them.

She brought her hand to muffle her sob. Rosanna was still awake in the living room working. She didn't need to distract her. After Dele had Arnold order the maids to throw out all her belongings on the day his ultimatum lapsed, Rosanna brought her to her house.

She'd thought Dele had been joking, or that he would come around. He'd had mobile police men waiting in case she proved stubborn and didn't want to leave or relinquish his ring.

She curled her hand into a fist and ran her thumb over the space where her engagement ring used to be. Her thumb ran over the crisscross shank of the promise ring he gave her in Seychelles.

Seyifunmi, I want to promise you that I will never hurt you or give you a reason to doubt my love for you. Seyifunmi, no matter what happens I will never leave you.

She sobbed harder. She made him break his promises. She knew she should have been more persistent in trying to reach Tinu. She should have opened up to Dele immediately.

It would have been better if he heard it from her.

Get your hands off me.

Don't touch me, you traitor.

She'd betrayed his trust.

Why did you have to be so stupid?

"Seyifunmi," Rosanna called as she walked into the room.

Seyifunmi gasped and wiped her tears before turning to face her.

"Are you crying again?" Rosanna groaned as she sat on the bed.

Seyifunmi couldn't stop the tears that gave her away as she shook her head.

"Oh, Seyifunmi." Rosanna cooed and hugged her.

Seyifunmi's resolve shattered and she sobbed as loud and as hard as she wanted to.

"He said I should leave him alone. Rosanna,he hasn't forgiven me." She cried as she clutched her cousin.

"It's okay."

"It's not okay. Ro, you warned me. I didn't listen. Now, I've lost him. He told me to stop spamming him. I doubt he read any of my messages. Ro, how will I leave without Dele. He's my life, my everything." She howled.

Rosanna rubbed her back and cooed in her ear.

"Ro, let me just die." She whispered and Rosanna pulled away from her.

"That's enough. No talks about death. It isn't the end of the world."

"It is." Seyifunmi shouted. "It's the end of my world as I know it."

"Look, if you're acting like this now, what will you do when you see the video on Instagram?" Rosanna blurted out.

"F*uck!" She cried and winced like she wasn't supposed to tell her about the video.

"What video, Ro?" She asked.

"Never mind."

"What video, Ro? Has Dele already moved on?" She shouted. "If that's it, let me see it."

Rosanna shook her head.

"It's not that. Don't worry."

"I won't believe you until you tell me what video it is." Seyifunmi shouted and stood.

"Fine," Rosanna said and sighed, "the girl who was recording you uploaded it to Instagram. Seyifunmi, it's trending. It was my mum who sent me the link. Ose too's seen it, and he's been asking if you're okay."

Seyifunmi gasped and her phone blared with Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire.

She checked the caller ID, half praying it was Dele who wanted to check up on her.

Mummy.

She cringed.

Had her mother seen the video?

********

Seyifunmi ignored the whispers that germinated as she walked past the receptionist's desk. They had seen the video and she didn't care. All she wanted was Dele back in her life.

She got in the elevator, and saw recognition cloud the face of the strange man who joined her at the second floor. She pretended she didn't. They both got off at the fourth floor.

They walked to Teni's desk and Teni beamed at the man. She gave him directions to a conference room, and the man left.

"Miss Seyifunmi," Teni called with a nervous smile and pity glimmering in her bespectacled eyes.

"Teni, what's up? Is Dele in?"

She shook her head.

"He went for a meeting."

"When will he be back?"

Teni shrugged. "I don't know, ma."

"Can I wait for him?"

Teni's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"That won't be necessary. He might come back late."

"I thought you didn't know when he'll be back."

"I don't know, Miss Seyifunmi, but you can't wait for him." Teni groaned.

"Teni, please, I need to see him. Please." Seyifunmi whined.

"Ma, that's against office policy. Please, ma, maybe you can come back later or-"

"Teni, please, get someone to fix the intercom. And need these documents faxed to Edoe Technical Solutions, now," Dele said as he walked out of his office.

She turned to look at him.

He looked the same, except he'd sprouted a few more white hair in her beard.

Her heart broke as he dropped the documents without looking at her. It was as if she wasn't standing there.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you." He said and turned away.

"Dele, please," she cried before he got to his door.

He stopped, and she prayed he'd want to talk. He turned and said, "Teni, have you found a new job?"

Teni shook her head and stood.

"No sir."

"Then, if you know still want to work here, get this woman out of my building. If she's still here in the next five minutes, type your sack letter." He said and turned to leave to his office.

Teni clapped in frustration.

"Oya, Aunty Seyifunmi, you've heard. I didn't want to hurt you that's why I didn't tell you that Oga categorical warned me to never let you into his office. E ma koba mi. As you see me, I'm a widow, and awon omo sii kere. I need my job and the scholarship Oga is giving my children. See, come and be going." Teni said. (Don't implicate me. And my children are still young.)

Seyifunmi genuflected and said, "Please, help me beg him to talk to me. Please."

"Beg who? Miss Seyifunmi, come and be going. I beg you in Jesus' name. Abeg." Teni drawled in exasperation.

"Teni, please."

"Abi, you think I'm joking with you," Teni shouted as she picked up the receiver of one of the telephones on her desk and punched in some numbers.

"Hello security, this is the CEO's office. There's an unwanted guest here who refuses to vacate the premises and-"

Seyifunmi turned and left. She didn't need to be dragged out after Délé's treatment of her.

She walked to the elevator and tapped the button, not before hearing Teni hiss and call her alaakooba.

Seyifunmi shook her head. Teni who used to kiss her ass was now calling her names.

Thanks for the Update
You are a darling

wow....this story is "sweeting" me thanks for the update

Thanks for the update

This is heartbreaking. Feel so sorry for seyi.


Thanks millieademi